Dan’s Premier League Column

Incredible. Absolutely incredible. This is why I absolutely love this beautiful game. Never before have I seen such a jam packed 10 minutes of football. I’m talking about a game filled with VAR nonsense, goals from out of this world and pure quality bursting out onto our screens. Whether it was Mo Salah’s audacious quick footed goal or Wanyama’s absolute peach of a strike, you won’t have seen a game like this for a long time.
Spurs were the better side on the ball in the first half but never looked like breaking Liverpool down, and I never thought for a second that they were going to score because of the way Liverpool denied Spurs space when they came forward, and looked to hit them on the counter-attack.
With the pace of Mane, the quality of Bobby Firmino and the pure genius of Salah, when Liverpool went 1-0 up inside the first 3 minutes, I thought it was game over from then on. But knowing Liverpool’s shaky defence in the form of the unreliable Lovren and new boy Van Dijk, the game was always too close to call.
It stayed 1-0 till half time but things were very different in the second half. Tottenham began to take charge of the game after the break and the main reason for that was down to Liverpool running out of energy. They had put so much into the first half that it was inevitable it would catch up with them, so it was all about patience for Spurs.
With Wanyama’s sensational goal and Mo Salah’s unbelievable strike, the game was thought to be over until up stepped Harry Kane with his 100th goal in the Premier League to make it all evens at 2-2. Whether you love him or loath him, I have not seen many better goal poachers than Kane and this game was clear evidence of that.
Now I’m not one to praise Arsenal football club for their performances on or off the pitch for everything the club stands for is business first football second, but for them to sign a certain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will only do them wonders.
The Gabonese striker, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of watching when he played in one of the most exciting matches of all time(!), a 0-0 draw against South Korea in the London Olympics, is one of the deadliest players the footballing world has to offer. With his lightning pace and flamboyant flair, the 26 year old eats goals for breakfast and his debut against Everton showed that as he scored a lovely chip when they smashed the Blues 5-1 in an outstanding performance.
The link up play between Auba, Mkhitaryan and Ozil is something all Premier League clubs should fear as although I’ve always rated Ozil, I was never too sure whether Miki would grasp the English game, but his performance proved me wrong. Three assists already and I can start to see why Arsenal fans are starting to gain a little bit of hope.
Other results include Burnley clinching a late draw against leaders and soon to be Champions Manchester City after boss Pep Guardiola refused to blame Raheem Sterling for his side’s failure to beat Burnley after the England forward missed a glorious late chance to secure victory. Alexis Sanchez scoring his first goal for Manchester United as they comfortably beat Huddersfield to send the visitors into the Premier League’s relegation zone. And Watford scoring three late goals to win Javi Gracia’s first home game in charge in an “unforgettable night” for their manager and increase the pressure on Chelsea counterpart Antonio Conte.
But in the 6 weeks which I haven’t written my article in (and I don’t know how you’ve managed without it), I’ve had the pleasure of watching my team, Newcastle United, playing Chelsea in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge. One thing I may say is that there are no fans like the Magpies contingent, but however fantastic they may be, we were just awful.
Honestly, my brain cannot get to terms with how that “striker” Joselu is still playing football when the man could barely score even if the goal was wide open. It infuriated me and the whole of the Toon Army when Joselu stood up to take the penalty against Burnley as the whole crowd and I all proclaimed a harmonious whine, and guess
what – he missed it.
Although Joselu might still be playing for the Toon, new boy Kennedy has lit up St. James’s Park brings a tear to my eye to think that out of all my years watching Newcastle, I’ve never seen a player with so much skill.